


Night Shifts

by Kiraly



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Drabble Collection, Flash Fic, Gen, Prologue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-23 17:25:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11994507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiraly/pseuds/Kiraly
Summary: Five drabbles for the Prologue groups. Some quiet and not-so-quiet nights during the apocalypse.





	Night Shifts

**Author's Note:**

> Written for this week's [Synchronised Screaming](https://synchronisedscreaming.tumblr.com/) flash fiction challenge on Tumblr. The prompt was "Any SSSS - Night Shift". I decided to try my hand at a drabble, but I couldn't decide which Prologue characters I wanted to choose, so I did one for each of them. Each section is 100 words, not counting the headings.

_Norway_

“If you fall asleep on guard duty and shoot yourself in the face, I’m gonna laugh at you.”

Aksel jerked upright at Sigrun’s words. “I wasn’t sleeping! I was just…relaxing, a little. It’s hard to stand guard all night.”

“Suuuure.” Sigrun poked him in the ribs. “And the snoring, that was all part of your plan to relax?”

Now Aksel stiffened with indignation. “Excuse you, I do  _not_ snore.” He folded his arms, then seemed to remember his gun and hastily shouldered it.

“Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that.” Sigrun chuckled. “Come by when we’re off-duty. I’ll prove you wrong.”

————

_Denmark_

There was something soothing about the barn after sunset, Michael thought. As a teenager, he’d hated getting stuck with calf duty, waiting in the circle of lamplight for something to happen. At best, he’d be bored and then sleep deprived the next day. At worst, he’d have to assist with a long, messy birth, which was not something he’d missed when he moved to the city. But he’d missed the quiet.

“Is calf duty always this boring?” Signe asked, stifling a yawn. Her head dropped to his shoulder. “Wake me up if something happens.”

Yes, this was actually quite nice.

————

_Finland_

A wail cut through the still evening. All five adults bolted upright, then sank back down when they realized it wasn’t a troll. Eino and Tuuli rolled over, grumbling. Saku and Aino simply looked at each other.

“It’s your turn,” Aino mumbled. She’d lost track, but Saku probably had too.

He wasn’t going without a fight, though. “I sang her to sleep for an hour,” he protested.

From Aino’s other side, Kaino sighed and heaved herself up. “I’ll get her. You two sleep.”

_I never signed up for this,_  she thought, bouncing baby Ensi to quiet her.  _No regrets, though._

————

_Sweden_

“Do you want me to drive for a while?” Ulrika’s voice was thick with sleep, but she sat up straighter in the passenger’s seat. “You must be getting tired.”

Stig flexed his hands on the steering wheel and considered. It had been a few hours, and before long he’d need a break. But the other three–five, if you counted the animals–still slept, and if he pulled over now, they might wake up.

Anyway, it was nice to have a moment to themselves.

“I’m all right,” he said. He reached over and took Ulrika’s hand. They’d get through this together. Somehow.

————

_Iceland_

Every second spent at sea was awful, but nights were the worst.

“Damn. Why do we always run across the tiny boats at night? Almost feel bad for them.”

Árni didn’t reply. What could he say? He felt bad about it no matter the time. At least this incident had come at the end of his shift, so he could go back to his bunk and hide his grief in the pillow.

Sleep didn’t help, though. He saw them there, too, up-close and personal instead of a radar blip, silent accusations. It was enough to make him stay awake forever.


End file.
